Piano-action



2 Sheets--Sheet L (No Model.)

J. W. COOPER.

PIANO ACTION.

No. 394,251. Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

N4 PETERS. PhuRo-Liihcgnphen Washington. n.

(No Model.) 2 Sheets-Sheet 2.

Y J. W. COOPER. 4

PIANO ACTION.

Patented Dec. 11, 1888.

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UNITED STATES PATENT Erica JOHN TV. COOPER, OF ATLANTA, GEORGIA.

PIANO-ACTION.

SPECIFICATION forming part of Letters Patent No. 394,251, dated December11, 1888.

Application filed November 10, 1887. Serial No. 254,779. (No model.)

.act description of the invention, such as will enable others skilled inthe art to which it appertains to make and use the same, reference beinghad to the accompanying drawings, and to the letters and figures ofreference marked thereon, which form a part of this specification.

This invention relatesto piano-actions, and has a twofold obj ect-first,to vary the resistance of the keys to the touch by a weight connectedwith the keys, and having a shifting fulcrum, without changing the dipof the keys; second, to modulate the sound without .muftling the tone,and at the same time preserve the touch and dip of the key.

The resistance of the keys of a piano can .be readily adapted to thetouch of any performer by a simple movement of the lever, and aperformer having weak fingers can strengthen them by increasing theresistance of thekeys while practicing. The sound can .be quicklymoderated without muffiing the tone, and independently of the pedal. The

throw of the hammer, when adjusted, can be fixed for any length of timeand can be changed as often as required, and can be fur ther modified bythe pedal, if necessary, provided the mechanism has not been adjusted tothe limit at which it will give the softest sound.

The improvement consists in the novel features and peculiar constructionand combination of parts, which will be more particularly hereinafterset forth and claimed, and shown .in the annexed drawings, in whichFigure 1 is a perspective detail view, parts being broken away, of oneend of an upright piano embodying my invention; Fig. 2, a detail viewshowing the counter-balance applied to the key and thecounterbalance-rail; Fig. 3, a detail view of the inner end of the .key,showing the means for varying the position of the striker; Fig. 4, adetail view showing the connection between the pedal-rod and therocker-rail; l ig. 5, a detail perspective view of the sliding stop andthe key-block separated, showing the relative position of each.

Similar-letters and figures refer to corresponding parts in the severalviews.

1 is the piano-block, to which the ends of the strings are secured; 2the bridge; 3, the string; 4, the hammer; 5, the hammer-stem; (5, thehammer-lnitt; T, the bridle and guide; 8, the check; 9, the jack; lo,the bridle-support; ll, the whip; 12,the sticker; l3,thelifting-rocker;14, the key; in, the counter-balance; '17, the counterbalancerail; 18,the hinge which rail swings upon; 1!), the keyframe; 20, therocker-rail; Bl, the hinge on which the rocker-rail swings; 2:2, thcbaseend of rocker-rail, which is enlarged so as to have the slidingwedge-sha 'ied stop-piece 31 slide under to hold up said rail, as isseen in 22,

23, 2i, and 2o, soft-pedal lever; 27, pedalrod; 28, hammer-railcastings; 20, a section of the action-bracket; 30, the hammer-rail;3l,the sliding stop 32, the key-block; 33, the casting with slots forlevers to work through; 3i, the detachable lever; 35, the stop-lever;36, the casting attached to counterbalancerail and connected to leverSi; 37, a projection cast on lever 3i to enter into one end ofsoft-pedal lever26 at forked end. 38 is where the stop-lever enters intosliding stop 31 at hole 39; 40, slot in casting 33 on key-block forstop-lever 35 to go through.

The operation of the device is as follows: 011 depressing the key itthrows the hammer forward. The tilting rocker 13 on the key being inposition to move with the key when struck is as if the key and rocker 13were solid, because in this instance the relative arrangement of theparts is such that the rocker does not work at the joint at ll, but lieson the key from the joint 41 back to the rear end of the key, thecounter-balance under the front end of the key being at rest and notmaking any extra weight on the key that would lessen the resistance tothe touch more than ordinarily, as the counterbalance 16 is on a balanceover the balance-rail 17. This makes no change in the action or the key,as it now represents the full piano. Now when we put on the soft pedal,by pressing upon the pedal (not shown) it throws up the pedal-rod 27,which raises the hammerrail 30, carrying the hammer up closer to thestring and shortening its stroke, and at the same time the rockerrail 20is carried up by a small pedal-rod, 55, taking hold of the middle of therocker-rail, as shown most clearly in Fig. 4, raising the series ofrockers at the same time the hanr mers are being raised up. The rocker,as will be seen, raises the sticker, which, being connected with thewhip 11 in the action, and whip being connected with the jack 9, followsup the hammer; but as said rocker would not raise up the sticker, whip,and jack when the hammers rise up, then in that case there would be aspace between the jack and hammer-butt. Now when the hammer-rail risesand the jack follows up the hammer-butt, the gravity of these parts istaken off the hammer to a great extent, as its rear end is raised inalmost a perpendicular position. In this case the key is left,comparatively speaking, very light, as all or nearly all the weight isremoved therefrom, and to compensate for this removal of weight, so asto preserve a uniform touch on the key, I found it necessary tosubstitute a counter-balance. Now when the hammer-rail and rocker-railcarry up the hammer, at the same time the counterbalance-rail is raisedby the lever 26, which is raised or operated on by the pedal-rod 27,connected at 50 with the lever 26 and pivoted at 51, and then beingconnected with the lever 34 by having the projection 37 fitted into aslot or kerf, 56, in the end of long lever 26. The counterbalance-railbrings into operation the counter-balance 16, and counterbalancerailchanges its position, as shown in Fig. 2, balance-rail 17 leaves itsposition half-way between the ends of the counter-balance, and nears thefulcrum 57, traveling from O to O on counter-balance 16, Fig. 2, thusincreasing the resistance to the touch on the key while the hammers areup toward the strings. The counter-balance can be made to act withgreater or less force'on the key, according to the position of thecounterbalance-rail, thereby producing a graded touch. The three rails17, 20, and 30 move at the same time as the weight is taken off the keyby the hammers ascending toward the wires, the weight coming graduallyon the outer or free end of the counter-balance. All the liftingrockeraccomplishes is to have the jack follow up close to the butts of thehammer to take up and prevent any motion between the end of the jack andthe hammer-butt. IVhen it is desired to hold the hammer up near to thewires without keeping the foot. 011 the pedal, press down and in on thestop-lever 35, which will bring the parts in the position shown in Fig.1-that is, the sliding stop 31 is pushed under the rail 22 and under theeccentric 25, which is pivoted to the pedalfrom the kerf 56.

rod at 54. The inner end of the stop is bifurcated and provided with thewedge-shaped ends 23 and 24. The wedge 23 is under the rail 20 at 22.The wedge 2-1 is under the eccentric or cam 25. The stop in thisposition holds the hammer nearer the wires without the foot being on thepedal rod, preserving the perfect piano touch and the same dip of thekeys and not changing anything in the action. In addition to a perfectsoft pedal I have a plan for increasing the weight of the key and itsconsequent resistance to the touch by simply disconnect ing the lever34: from the soft pedal lever 26, as shown by the dotted lines, Fig. 1,34 being disconnected from the long. lever 26 at the forked end bydisengaging the projection 37 After disconnecting lever 31 from thelever 26 a continued movement of the lever 31 in a downward directionwill turn the counterbalance-rail 17 about its hinge and change itsposition relative to the counter balance, thus varying the resistance tothe touch independently of the pedal.

Having thus described my invention, what I claim, and desire to secureby Letters Patent, 1s

1. In a piano-action, the combination, with the key having alifting-rocker and the r0 ckerrail, of the sliding stop having awedgeshaped end, and means for moving the stop, whereby the wedge-shapedend is projected under the rocker-rail, substantially as described.

2. The combination, with the key, the lifting-rocker, and therocker-rail, of the counter-balance pivotally connected with the key,the counterbalanc'erail, and means for moving the rocker-rail and thecounterbalancerail, substantially as set forth,- for the purposedescribed.

3. The combination, with the key and the counter-balance, of thecounterbalance-rail and means for moving the counterbalancerail, wherebythe fulcrum of the counter-balance is changed to vary the resistance ofthe key to the touch.

at. The combination, with the string, the hammer-rail, and thepedal-rod, of the cam 25 and the sliding stop adapted to be projectedwithin the path of the cam, substantially as described, for the purposespecified.

5. The combination of the hammer-rail, the pedal-rod, the pedal-lever,the key, the counter-balance, the counterbalance-rail, and the lever 34,connecting the pedal-lever and the counterbalance rail, substantially asdescribed.

6. The combination of the hammer-rail, the pedal-rod, the cam, thepedal-lever 26, the key, the counter-balance, the counterbalancerail,the lever 34:, and the sliding stop 31, adapted to be projected in thepath of the cam 25, substantially as described, for the purpose setforth.

7. The combination of the key, the coun- In testimony WhereofI affixmysignature in tor-balance, the counterbalance-rail, the hampresence oftwo Witnesses. nier-rail, the pedal-rod, the pedal-lever 26, having akerf in its outer end, and the lever 7 JOHN \V. COOPER. 5 34, having theprojection 37 interposed between and adapted to connect and disconnectVitnesses: the lever 26 and balance-rail, substantially as R. A.HALLIDAY, and for the purpose described. HARRY KROUSE.

